I have been thinking about Pure Intent today because of some things going on with holistic practitioner friends. I've been asking myself if I am acting with Pure Intent. And, out of that arose the question of what exactly is Pure Intent?

Does it mean we act without any thought for ourselves and what can be gained in any way? Does it mean we are totally free of Ego? Do we do things because we think it is the will of the Creator of All Life working through us?

I read the following Sufi thoughts on this which I found interesting:

"Just how pure are our intentions. How can we know? The believer understands purity of action to mean an act that is free of any selfish motive and is undertaken purely seeking the good pleasure of our Creator. This sounds easy but in reality, it can be difficult and tricky. For example, someone could be giving a talk on Pure Intention and think that they are sincerely imparting useful knowledge when in reality they are seeking public recognition and praise. In such a case, the person would be judged to have no sincerity to GOD and no reward. This is because they are unknowingly making partners with GOD in that they are seeking the pleasure of Creation above the pleasure of the Creator."

This article then goes on to say, "Surely, we have to look behind the intentions to see what state our heart is in. However, how can we know our own heart? Sometimes we cannot connect with our true nature because of the veil of the self and the whirlwind of whims and desires that seems to constantly ‘blow’ around our soul. Sometimes this causes so much confusion that we cannot discriminate truth from falsehood to the extent that we accept falsehood as truth and vice versa." - from http://www.sufiway.net/ar_Sufism_pure-intention.html

What do I think?

Pure Intent, I believe, is something that we, who are "working" Spiritual Holistic Practitioners have to be deal with all the time, if we are honest with ourselves. Realistically, most of us are not Saints or have attained Enlightenment status, so putting the Ego completely aside is not possible. Most of us are also not Monks, having food and gifts given to us from the people to sustain us, and a free place to live.

We, who do this as a business, also need to think about the fact that we must make money from what we do (and love) to pay the bills and to feed our loved ones. Don't be naive and think this cannot be a business because Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, Louise Hay, Judy Satori and all the people whose books you love to read - it's business. Money is one form of energy exchange as is the trading of goods and services.

I am distinctly aware of this and the conflict is has within me and many others like me. Is knowing this and being cognisent of it in our every day dealings mean that we are able to act with Pure Intent? Pure intent for me is also honesty about why I am doing what I am doing, and why I love to do it.

Someone told me once that when you pray, make sure you are honest about that for which you are praying. Make sure that if you are asking for something for someone else, but you know in the end it will benefit you also, then say so in your prayers to the Holy One. Don't try to hide it. It is what it is, and we are all playing this role of humanity.

Let us as holistic practitioner be completely honest about why we do what we do. And this extends out to all walks of life, all actions, all jobs. For me, this is trying to live with integrity through awareness of our actions - this for me is Pure Intent.